


The Assignment

by TrinityRain



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Royalty, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Bodyguard Keith (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Galra Keith (Voltron), Galtean AU, Knight Keith (Voltron), M/M, Magic, Prince Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrinityRain/pseuds/TrinityRain
Summary: Keith is assigned to Prince Lance of Altea, in charge of protecting him from harm. But Lance is unlike any assignment Keith has ever had. With knighthood, magic, romance, and a dark plot in the mix, Keith is in for a wild ride.
Relationships: Allura/Romelle (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my klance secret santa gift for fomalhaut89 on tumblr! i hope you don't mind that i took your royalty and prince/knight au to a galtean version! i'll also include some magic to spice things up for you!! i hope you like it, merry christmas!!

The ship the Blade gave them was small. Keith had to slouch to fit under the low ceiling and hunch his shoulders to fit in the seat. You’d think they’d give them better accommodations since he was assigned to Altean royalty, the most important royalty on this side of the universe. But no, instead the mighty Blade of Marmora gave them a ship he was pretty sure was meant for Arusians. Typical. 

Luckily, once he reached Altea, the rest of his accommodations would be taken care of by the Alteans. He heard all about their lavish lifestyles, the soft furniture and billowy clothing, with delicious meals served on fine dishware and beautiful songs playing everywhere. Keith didn’t care much for things like that, but it was nice all the same. 

He had spent so much time hopping around from place to place on boring assignments with terrible conditions. It was going to be nice to be in a lavish set up for a change. And even better to stay in one place. At least for the foreseeable future. He was tired of never settling down for more than a minute.

“Keith, are you listening?”

Keith was not. “Huh?” He looked up at Shiro’s expectant face. 

Shiro sighed. “I was telling you about the prince. You know, your assignment?”

Keith nodded his head. “Right. Go on.”

Shiro sighed again. He did that a lot when it came to Keith. Keith knew he was the cause of a few of Shiro’s white hairs. “As I was saying,” he went on, “Prince Lance is known to be charming and a smooth-talker. He will try to escape his tail from time to time, so you’ll have to be extra vigilant with him. And I know you can find people like him annoying, so please, try not to say any of your complaints out loud.”

This time, Keith sighed. He wasn’t that good at closing his mouth when he needed to. He was known to make a remark at the wrong moment and get his assignment offended. They didn’t usually let him around royalty because of this. “I will try to be on my best behavior.”

“Thank you, Keith.” Shiro smiled at him a tired but fond smile. 

Matt, his Altean husband who joined the Blade with him, sensed Shiro’s tiredness and squeezed his hand. Shiro smiled at him, his stress melting slightly at the touch. 

Keith hoped Shiro could relax more here. He wasn’t going to do much on this assignment, just supervise Keith and deal with relations with the Alteans alongside Matt. It was honestly more of a vacation for him and a chance to spend time with Matt in his home. Keith knew Kolivan planned this assignment like that on purpose. Shiro was one of the best and most hardworking Blade members, if anyone deserved an easy assignment, it was him. 

“Alright, Keith,” Matt said when Altea came into view as a small dot, growing larger by the second. “Rapid fire recap, who’s your assignment?”

“Prince Lance of Altea,” Keith recited, “second child of King Alfor, brother to Princess Allura, and second in line to the throne.”

Matt smiled. “Perfect. And who are his closest friends?”

“Hunk and Pidge, his friends since childhood. Hunk, the son of the cook, met Lance when Lance periodically sneaked off to the kitchens. He is now Lance’s gentleman-in-waiting, whatever that means, and hopes to take over as cook when his mother retires. Pidge, a daughter of the noble Holt house, met Hunk and Lance when visiting the castle whenever her father, Sir Samuel Holt, was called there on intergalactic relations business.”

“Right again,” Matt said. He grinned. “And who is your favorite Blade of Marmora Ambassador of Altea?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Matt Holt, son of the noble Holt house, brother to Pidge, friend of the prince, husband of Blade Commander Shiro, and huge pain in my ass.”

Matt feigned offense, holding a hand to his heart. “That last one was hurtful and unnecessary, but the rest was good.” He grinned and turned to Shiro. “Our son is ready.”

Keith threw his dagger’s sheath at Matt’s head. “Not your son, dumbass.”

Matt gasped. “Language, young man! That is no way to talk to your father. Go to your room.”

Shiro chuckled. “Please don’t call my brother our son, it makes me feel old.”

“Oh, my darling, you are still so young,” Matt cooed. He flicked Shiro’s tuft of white hair. “These white hairs are nothing but premature indicators of stress, you still have your youthful glow.” He placed a dramatic and messy kiss on Shiro’s cheek.

That made Keith laugh. He loved seeing the two of them together. It was funny and he was glad that Shiro had found someone who was good for him. He deserved it after everything he had done for Keith. 

Keith’s mother was a Blade member. She had met a Terran on an assignment and fell in love, resulting in the half Terran half Galran that was Keith. She went back to the Blade after her husband died and later died on an assignment, leaving Keith an orphan. He grew up in the Blade, going to Marmoran school and causing trouble. It wasn’t until he tried to steal someone’s hoverbike that he found a new home.

He was a kid, so he didn’t execute his heist very well. The hoverbike’s owner caught him very quickly. Luckily, he was a kind Marmoran named Shiro that took him under his wing. He helped straighten Keith up, raised him as his brother and helped him succeed in the Blade. He, and later Matt, became his family. As Shiro rose ranks, he never lessened his attention on Keith. He was forever grateful for everything Shiro did for him, which is why he tried so hard to be a good Blade member. So that all of Shiro’s effort paid off. So that he’d be proud of him.

“Home!”

Keith looked back up to see Altea coming in close, Matt’s finger pointed at the city that was a little speck in front of them. Not more than five minutes later, they landed and got off. They were met by some servants and escorted inside the castle, led to a huge throne room. In the front and center was King Alfor, his son and daughter on either side of him.

Keith eyed the prince, some butterflies he never knew lived in his stomach fluttering slightly. Keith had seen holograms of his assignment, but they didn’t properly prepare him for Lance’s beauty. The prince caught his gaze and winked. Keith blushed.

"Welcome back, Matt!" King Alfor stood up and stepped forward, arms open in invitation.

Matt laughed and accepted the hug. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Oh, Matt, I've known you since you were in diapers. You know 'Uncle Alfor's good." The king gave a hearty laugh.

Matt grinned. "Yes, Uncle."

The king turned to look at Shiro. "And you must be Matt's husband!" He chuckled at Shiro's extended hand, clasping it and pulling him into a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you! I'm very eager to share the castle with the man who could reign this one in." He pointed his thumb back at Matt and chuckled again.

Finally, he set his eyes on Keith. "Last but not least, you must be Keith, the one who will be in charge of my son from now on." He opened his arms.

Keith hesitated, but awkwardly accepted the hug nonetheless. "Um, hello, Your Majesty."

Alfor clasped his hand on Keith's back. "No need for such formalities, you're practically family. Call me Alfor!" He leaned in to whisper. "My son can be a lot to handle, I wish you much luck," he chuckled. 

"Thanks, Your Maj- uh, Alfor." Keith's eyes flickered back to Lance nervously.

"Let me introduce you two to my children!" Alfor turned back to the young royals and motioned them forward.

Allura walked up to Matt, her poised face breaking into a grin. "It's so good to have you back, Matt!" She hugged him, lifting him an inch off the ground.

Matt laughed. "Hi, Llura. Still strong as ever, I see." 

Lance was next, his wide grin blinding Keith. "Matty boy!" He wrapped his long arms around Matt.

"Hey, kid." Matt ruffled the prince's hair. "Taking care of my sister still?"

Lance grinned. "Who, me? She doesn't need taking care of, I need protection from _her_. That gremlin pranks me enough for the two of you since you left."

Matt grinned back. "Perfect, she honored my parting wishes." Matt avoided Lance's attempt at swatting him and turned back to Keith and Shiro. "Let me introduce your highnesses to my husband Shiro and his brother Keith."

"Hello," Allura smiled warmly at them, shaking Shiro's hand and then Keith's. "I hope to become fast friends."

"We too, Princess," Shiro responded. Keith nodded in agreement.

Lance shook Shiro's hand and grinned. "So you're the man who put a ring on it, huh?" He put a hand to his mouth and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "You sure you don't want to take it back?"

"First off," Matt said, "he gave a ceremonial knife to it, and second off, rude."

Lance laughed. It was a pretty laugh, melodic and warm.

"Prince Lance," Matt announced in a mocking tone, "let me introduce you to your knight in shining armor, Keith of Marmora."

Lance extended his hand to Keith, who took it awkwardly. "A pleasure to meet you, Keith of Marmora." He smiled sweetly.

Keith stared blankly. "Uh, likewise."

Lance's sweet smile turned mischievous and he pulled Keith in, their heads cheek to cheek, only inches apart. "I look forward to spending time with you." He turned his head slightly, big blue eyes meeting Keith's, and winked.

 _Oh_. This was going to be an… interesting assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is in store for these two? we'll see! as always, leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed and you can come hang with me on [tumblr](https://christmasjumper.tumblr.com)! merry christmas, y'all!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry it took so long to update, fomalhaut89!! (is there another way you'd like to be referred to as?) i had to apply to _18_ colleges!! to make up for the long wait, i added a special edit to the fic. i hope you enjoy the second chapter of your gift!

When King Alfor said Lance was a lot to handle, he was not lying. It’s only been two weeks since Keith arrived on Altea and Lance has managed to evade him 15 times. Though, according to Allura, that is a significantly less amount of times than any other of Lance’s knights.

Which was another thing that wasn’t a lie. When Matt called Keith Lance’s knight in shining armor, only the shining part was a hyperbole. Apparently, the prince’s bodyguard has to be an actual Knight of Altea due to some weird tradition that dates back centuries. Keith was the first outsider to be Lance’s bodyguard, specially called in because no knight in Altea was a match for the prince.

So that is how Keith came to taking daily lessons with Coran, the castle historian, and joining the weekly knight training sessions. Knight training was okay, nothing much different from Keith’s regular training that he so often did. Lessons with Coran, however, were less okay. Coran had a real tendency to go off on long-winded tangents and tell stories that he didn’t fully remember. Luckily, there were some interesting stories buried under all the prattling.

“And that is when the weblum opened its mouth and everyone scattered!” Coran was saying, ending another long tangent. “Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Queen Altris established the Knights of Altea to protect the crown and those close to it. Make sure you know her name, she’ll be on the written test. Okey-dokes, kid, we’ll end there for today!” He slapped a hand to Keith’s back. “Enjoy the rest of your day!”

Keith nodded goodbye and made his way out, walking to Lance’s room to discharge the temporary guard and resume his post.

“The prince is taking a nap, sir,” the guard told him, “nothing of note has happened in your absence.”

“Alright,” Keith said, “thank you.” They nodded goodbye, the guard rounding the corner as Keith knocked on Lance’s door. “Your Highness? I’m back.” There was no response.

Good, Keith thought, he must have been still sleeping and wouldn’t cause Keith any grief yet. Keith opened the door and walked in to check on Lance and make sure nothing was out of order. Lance was gone. Keith groaned. Of course he was.

Groaning again, he turned around and headed for the door. After two weeks, Keith had learned all the places Lance would run away to. The first place in the castle grounds was the garden. He told Keith that he liked the quiet and calm beauty of the atmosphere there.

“Hey there, Mullet,” Lance grinned at him when Keith found him on a bench behind the roses. “Had a good lesson?”

Keith frowned. “It was okay. Would’ve been better if a certain prince wasn’t missing when I got back.”

Lance smirked. “Aw, did you miss me, sweetheart?” He laughed at Keith’s stony face. “Lighten up, sunshine, I just went out for some fresh air. You can quit your frowning, we don’t want to get wrinkles on that pretty face of yours.”

Keith had grown accustomed to Lance’s shameless flirting, so he no longer blushed at Lance’s compliments and pet names. At least, not visibly. Since the first time they fluttered, the butterflies in Keith’s stomach had been quite active around the prince. Even just as Keith escorted Lance back inside the castle, they were awake and moving.

“So, Mullet,” Lance started, “two weeks and I still know nothing about you.”

“What do you want to know?” Keith asked.

The prince thought for a minute, eyebrows drawn in mock concentration. “How come your skin is a pale purple and, well, skin?”

Keith told Lance about his mother and his father, how he was only half Galra and how his mother brought him to the Blade after his father’s death.

“Sorry about your dad,” Lance said, a small, supportive smile replacing his usual grin.

“It’s okay, I was really young,” Keith said, eyeing the floor as they walked.

“And your mom?” Lance asked.

“She died, too. On a mission when I was eleven. It’s okay, though!” he said, seeing the prince’s look of worry, “Shiro took me in afterwards and life was pretty good.”

Lance’s worried expression didn’t lessen. “Still, your mother dying when you were young must have been hard.”

Keith looked down at the floor. “Yeah. It was.”

They walked in silence for a while before Lance opened his mouth again. “My mother died when I was young, too. I was older than you, sixteen,” he smiled softly. “Now that she’s about mom’s age when she died, Allura looks just like her. But personality-wise, I take after mom. We shared the same sense of humor, the same crooked grin, the same flirty attitude.” He chuckled.

“She sounds like a great woman,” Keith said.

Lance’s head whipped around and he stared at Keith with wide eyes and a grin. “So by default, you think _I’m_ a great man!”

Keith spluttered. “What? No! I was justー” he sighed, “sure, Lance, you’re a great man.”

Lance let out a whoop. “You’re falling for me, Mullet!” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Gonna swoon yet?”

Keith shoved him lightly. “I admit you’re growing on me, but there will be absolutely no swooning. I can offer you a friendly eye roll instead.”

“You know what, Keef?” Lance grinned. “I’ll take it!”

~*~

“You’ve got a small waist, my boy!”

Keith didn’t know how to take that. He was being fitted for his new and official Knight of Altea armor by Coran, who also happened to be the castle’s tailor and blacksmith’s assistant.

Coran continued moving Keith around and wrapping him up in his weirdly pearlescent measuring tape. “And broad hips and shoulders! Definitely the build of a ninja! Perfect for a Blade such as yourself.”

Keith frowned. “A nin-what?”

“Ah,” Coran winked, “just a fun Terran term, nothing special. Of course, I wouldn’t expect a Galra like you to know it, even if you are half Terran. Turn around, please.”

Keith frowned again. Coran was a strange enigma.

“Well, we’ll have your personal armor by the end of the week, for now use these old ones that should fit fairly well.” Coran dumped a pile of chainmail and plates onto Keith and left the room. “See you tomorrow for lessons!”

Okay, Keith thought, fine. He’ll put on this Knight of Altea armor to respect the traditions of the kingdom, but he would wear his Blade suit underneath. No way was he going to wear the shaggy tunics the knights wore underneath their armor. Having to wear this special outfit in favor of his Blade armor was enough.

He walked out of the room, looking down at his waist to adjust his sword, which he used to keep on his back. He was so occupied with it that he failed to notice Lance until he was on the floor on top of him, having knocked them both over.

“Finally fell for me, huh?” The prince raised an eyebrow teasingly.

Keith got up and extended his hand. “Sorry about that.” He helped Lance, who was looking Keith up and down, get back up on his feet. “Got distracted by my new temporary armor.” It had been over a month on Altea, so Keith felt comfortable enough around Lance not to censor his thoughts anymore. “No offense to Queen Altris and Altean tradition, but I just cannot deal with this clunky armor and heavy chainmail.” He looked up at Lance when he got no response.

Lance’s face was ever so slightly tinged pink. “Um,” he said, “uhh…”

Keith looked at Lance quizzically. “Lance?”

Lance stared at him for a second more before turning around and all but running away. “Havetogotothebathroom, bYE!” He yelled behind him.

Keith frowned. That was weird.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the magic will make an appearance in the next chapter, but i'm basically following the canon altean magic thingy, so i didn't establish that in the story. hope that is okay and not confusing, lol. anyways, leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed and you can come hang with me on [tumblr](https://queridaz.tumblr.com/)!


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